Multi-Stakeholders Engagement
Multi-stakeholder initiatives, like roundtables and dialogues, are global fora that bring many of the key players on both the production and buying sides of a given commodity supply chain together with Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). The primary goal of these initiatives is to set voluntary production standards for members to follow. These standards aim to improve the sustainability of a commodity’s production by reducing environmental and social impacts.
Once voluntary standards are agreed, many roundtables evolve into independent certification schemes that allow buyers to be assured that their purchasing decisions contribute to environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable commodity production.
WWF has been involved in establishing several roundtables that certify some of the commodities which have impacts on the places and species we care about:
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): FSC promotes the responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC certification is important to WWF’s conservation goal of reducing the loss of high conservation value areas (see box), as it provides a link between the responsible production and consumption of forest products, and allows the consumer to make responsible purchasing decisions.
Certification for sustainable timber sourcing continues to grow. As of September 2011, the FSC has more than 146 million hectares of forests certified to its social, economic and environmental standards. This covers approximately 13% of global production forests as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
WWF engages with the forest related industry through its Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN), comprising more than 270 companies employing over 1.4 million people, and manages approximately 21.6 million hectares of credibly certified forests and 5.1 million hectares in progress to certification. GFTN is responsible for 14% of the global total of FSC certified forest area and sells $69 billion in forest product annually - an estimated 18% of the global total of forest products traded per year.
GFTN was established to assist companies in implementing responsible forest management and sourcing forest products from responsibly managed forests. First established in 1991, it is the world’s longest-running and largest forest and trade programme of its kind—providing assistance to hundreds of companies in many countries.
For the most recent FSC facts and figures, please see the Types and Distribution of Global FSC Certificates, a monthly publication.
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): The Marine Stewardship Council works to tip global seafood markets towards sustainability by certifying responsibly managed wild fisheries, and making sustainable seafood globally available.
The MSC wild fisheries certification scheme continues to transform the global seafood market. Over 11,000 products carry the MSC ecolabel. In June, 2011 the 10,000th product to carry the MSC ecolabel hit the market. Over 260 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme. Together, these fisheries land over 9 million metric tons of seafood annually, or about 12% of global wild harvest. For the most recent information, see the MSC website.
Find out more about WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative, which works with fishers, fisheries managers, seafood traders, and consumers to reform commercial marine fisheries towards long-term sustainability – where seafood is harvested in a way that sustains and protects the marine environment, the species within it, and the people who depend on them. Also find out why WWF focuses on marine-caught tuna, whitefish, shrimp and forage fish.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO): The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) promotes the production and purchase of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) through its certification scheme.
The RSPO has achieved several milestones: as of January 2012, almost 7 million tons of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) and certified sustainable palm kernel oil (CSPK) were produced by 135 certified palm oil mills with a production area of over 1 million hectares. Sustainable palm oil represents over 13% of global palm oil production.
To track the most recent levels of certified palm oil production, please see the RSPO's website on Certified Growers.
WWF has been involved in establishing several roundtables that certify some of the commodities which have impacts on the places and species we care about:
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC): FSC promotes the responsible management of the world’s forests. FSC certification is important to WWF’s conservation goal of reducing the loss of high conservation value areas (see box), as it provides a link between the responsible production and consumption of forest products, and allows the consumer to make responsible purchasing decisions.
Certification for sustainable timber sourcing continues to grow. As of September 2011, the FSC has more than 146 million hectares of forests certified to its social, economic and environmental standards. This covers approximately 13% of global production forests as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
WWF engages with the forest related industry through its Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN), comprising more than 270 companies employing over 1.4 million people, and manages approximately 21.6 million hectares of credibly certified forests and 5.1 million hectares in progress to certification. GFTN is responsible for 14% of the global total of FSC certified forest area and sells $69 billion in forest product annually - an estimated 18% of the global total of forest products traded per year.
GFTN was established to assist companies in implementing responsible forest management and sourcing forest products from responsibly managed forests. First established in 1991, it is the world’s longest-running and largest forest and trade programme of its kind—providing assistance to hundreds of companies in many countries.
For the most recent FSC facts and figures, please see the Types and Distribution of Global FSC Certificates, a monthly publication.
Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): The Marine Stewardship Council works to tip global seafood markets towards sustainability by certifying responsibly managed wild fisheries, and making sustainable seafood globally available.
The MSC wild fisheries certification scheme continues to transform the global seafood market. Over 11,000 products carry the MSC ecolabel. In June, 2011 the 10,000th product to carry the MSC ecolabel hit the market. Over 260 fisheries are engaged in the MSC programme. Together, these fisheries land over 9 million metric tons of seafood annually, or about 12% of global wild harvest. For the most recent information, see the MSC website.
Find out more about WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative, which works with fishers, fisheries managers, seafood traders, and consumers to reform commercial marine fisheries towards long-term sustainability – where seafood is harvested in a way that sustains and protects the marine environment, the species within it, and the people who depend on them. Also find out why WWF focuses on marine-caught tuna, whitefish, shrimp and forage fish.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO): The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) promotes the production and purchase of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) through its certification scheme.
The RSPO has achieved several milestones: as of January 2012, almost 7 million tons of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) and certified sustainable palm kernel oil (CSPK) were produced by 135 certified palm oil mills with a production area of over 1 million hectares. Sustainable palm oil represents over 13% of global palm oil production.
To track the most recent levels of certified palm oil production, please see the RSPO's website on Certified Growers.
Cover of 2011 SustainAbility Report by Patrin Watanatada and Heather Mak "Signed, Sealed... Delivered? Behind Certifications and Beyond Labels"
Signed, Sealed… Delivered?
Behind Certification and Beyond Labels
by Patrin Watanatada and Heather Mak of SustainAbility
This 2011 SustainAbility report "explores the value and challenges that businesses find in using certification and labeling as tools to improve economic, environmental and social outcomes across global value chains".
Identifying areas of outstanding importance:
Forest High Conservation Value Areas (HCVA) stand out because of their high environmental, socio-economic, biodiversity or landscape values. Looking at a forest through a HCVA prism allows WWF and our stakeholders to decide which parts of a forest must be given higher priority for protection than others.
Find out more about Forest High Conservation Value Areas.
Find out more about Forest High Conservation Value Areas.
Recent developments:
Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC): The Aquaculture Stewardship Council, which focuses on promoting more responsibly farmed seafood, has completed its development phase and is now moving towards certifying farms and introducing the ASC label. Four Aquaculture Dialogues standards are finalised and have been handed over to ASC: tilapia, bivalves, pangasius and abalone. Global standards for trout, salmon, seriola and cobia and shrimp are in their final stages of development. Both completed and upcoming standards focus on reducing the environmental and social impact of each farmed seafood.
Better Cotton Initiative (BCI): The BCI encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key negative environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for large- and small-scale cotton farmers around the world. After almost a decade of preparation, the Better Cotton Initiative reached a true milestone in October 2010, when the first ever bales of verified 'better cotton' were sold, followed by BC Projects in India & West Africa implemented by WWF, Solidaridad and other local partners. In the 2011-12 season, over 120,000 farmers will be participating in BCI related projects in the coming year, with a current production forecast of around 250,000 MT of cotton lint.
Bonsucro (formerly The Better Sugarcane Initiative - BSI: The Bonsucro Standard is the first standard to measure the impact of the sustainable production of sugar cane. Bonsucro is a collaboration of sugar retailers, investors, traders, producers and NGOs that are committed to sustainable sugar production by establishing principles and criteria that are applied in the sugarcane growing regions of the world.
In June 2011, we welcomed the very first certified sustainable sugar and ethanol to the market. 130,000 tonnes of Bonsucro certified sugar and 63,000 cubic metres of certified ethanol were produced by a mill in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Today, over 6% of global cane production is now Bonsucro Certified Sustainable, with most of the sugar coming from Brazil’s center South area.
Roundtable on Sustainable Bio-fuels (RSB): Launched in March 2011, RSB standards define requirements for certification. Through collaboration between farmers, industries, NGOs and governments, the RSB certification system provides operators with assurance that their feedstock and fuels are guaranteed sustainable. The RSB is supported by over 125 member organizations based in over 40 countries, representing a diverse range of stakeholders. RSB services is the certification branch of the RSB and will oversee the certification of operators according to the global RSB standard.
Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS): The RTRS was created to help ensure that current soy production and further expansion of the crop will be done in an environmentally sound and socially responsible way, avoiding clearance of native forests and high conservation value areas. The RTRS currently counts more than 150 members from 22 countries from various backgrounds. During its field testing period in 2010, 250,000 ha of RTRS soy were produced.
In June 2011, a coalition of the Dutch food and feed industry bought the first batch of RTRS soy for 85.000 tons of soy meal and Unilever Brazil bought the first certificates of 5.000 tons of soy oil.
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF): The ISSF is neither a certification scheme, nor an eco-label. It works towards the long-term conservation of tuna stocks, reduces bycatch and promotes healthy ecosystems by improving the performance of regional fishery management organizations and tuna fishing fleets. Companies that participate with ISSF, trace tuna along its supply chain, from ocean to shelf, to ensure that tuna is caught sustainably. Founding companies of the ISFF represent 50% of the global market for canned tuna.
Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) The AWS, formed in 2009, works with engaged stakeholders from around the world and is developing a global water stewardship program and a permanent organization to house this initiative. At the heart of the program is the development of an International Water Stewardship Standard based on critical aspects of water stewardship such as managing flow, water quality, habitats and ensuring good governance. The Standard aims to recognize and reward water users and managers who take significant steps to minimize their water use and impacts. When operational, the AWS program will provide a powerful new voluntary incentive to companies and water service providers to improve the way water is managed around the world through a rigorous yet realistic Water Stewardship Standard. The first Draft International Water Stewardship Standard will be launched at this year’s 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France.
Towards defining best practices for Sustainable Beef:
Since the October 2010 Global Conference for Sustainable Beef, where approximately 300 stakeholders met to address the environmental, economic and social impacts of beef production, WWF and other stakeholders of the beef value chain are working together to develop a Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which builds upon existing natinoal and regional initiatives such as in the US, Brazil and Australia. The goal of this forum and the proposed Roundtable is to develop and promote greater adoption of sustainable beef practices that lead to science-based, measurable outcomes through a global multi-stakeholder initiative. Note that the GRSB is set ot belaunched on 21-22 February in Dallas, Texas.
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Better Cotton Initiative (BCI): The BCI encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key negative environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for large- and small-scale cotton farmers around the world. After almost a decade of preparation, the Better Cotton Initiative reached a true milestone in October 2010, when the first ever bales of verified 'better cotton' were sold, followed by BC Projects in India & West Africa implemented by WWF, Solidaridad and other local partners. In the 2011-12 season, over 120,000 farmers will be participating in BCI related projects in the coming year, with a current production forecast of around 250,000 MT of cotton lint.
Bonsucro (formerly The Better Sugarcane Initiative - BSI: The Bonsucro Standard is the first standard to measure the impact of the sustainable production of sugar cane. Bonsucro is a collaboration of sugar retailers, investors, traders, producers and NGOs that are committed to sustainable sugar production by establishing principles and criteria that are applied in the sugarcane growing regions of the world.
In June 2011, we welcomed the very first certified sustainable sugar and ethanol to the market. 130,000 tonnes of Bonsucro certified sugar and 63,000 cubic metres of certified ethanol were produced by a mill in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Today, over 6% of global cane production is now Bonsucro Certified Sustainable, with most of the sugar coming from Brazil’s center South area.
Roundtable on Sustainable Bio-fuels (RSB): Launched in March 2011, RSB standards define requirements for certification. Through collaboration between farmers, industries, NGOs and governments, the RSB certification system provides operators with assurance that their feedstock and fuels are guaranteed sustainable. The RSB is supported by over 125 member organizations based in over 40 countries, representing a diverse range of stakeholders. RSB services is the certification branch of the RSB and will oversee the certification of operators according to the global RSB standard.
Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS): The RTRS was created to help ensure that current soy production and further expansion of the crop will be done in an environmentally sound and socially responsible way, avoiding clearance of native forests and high conservation value areas. The RTRS currently counts more than 150 members from 22 countries from various backgrounds. During its field testing period in 2010, 250,000 ha of RTRS soy were produced.
In June 2011, a coalition of the Dutch food and feed industry bought the first batch of RTRS soy for 85.000 tons of soy meal and Unilever Brazil bought the first certificates of 5.000 tons of soy oil.
International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF): The ISSF is neither a certification scheme, nor an eco-label. It works towards the long-term conservation of tuna stocks, reduces bycatch and promotes healthy ecosystems by improving the performance of regional fishery management organizations and tuna fishing fleets. Companies that participate with ISSF, trace tuna along its supply chain, from ocean to shelf, to ensure that tuna is caught sustainably. Founding companies of the ISFF represent 50% of the global market for canned tuna.
Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) The AWS, formed in 2009, works with engaged stakeholders from around the world and is developing a global water stewardship program and a permanent organization to house this initiative. At the heart of the program is the development of an International Water Stewardship Standard based on critical aspects of water stewardship such as managing flow, water quality, habitats and ensuring good governance. The Standard aims to recognize and reward water users and managers who take significant steps to minimize their water use and impacts. When operational, the AWS program will provide a powerful new voluntary incentive to companies and water service providers to improve the way water is managed around the world through a rigorous yet realistic Water Stewardship Standard. The first Draft International Water Stewardship Standard will be launched at this year’s 6th World Water Forum in Marseille, France.
Towards defining best practices for Sustainable Beef:
Since the October 2010 Global Conference for Sustainable Beef, where approximately 300 stakeholders met to address the environmental, economic and social impacts of beef production, WWF and other stakeholders of the beef value chain are working together to develop a Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, which builds upon existing natinoal and regional initiatives such as in the US, Brazil and Australia. The goal of this forum and the proposed Roundtable is to develop and promote greater adoption of sustainable beef practices that lead to science-based, measurable outcomes through a global multi-stakeholder initiative. Note that the GRSB is set ot belaunched on 21-22 February in Dallas, Texas.
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